Voting on New Members

[PatrickTMcWilliams]

I'm particularly interested in the practices of Reformed Baptist congregations, but welcome answers from all.

Does your church have a congregational vote to receive new members? What is your general practice to receive new members?

Thanks!

 

[SeanPatrickCornell]

Our process goes like this.

1. Prospective member shows up to services for a certain period of time and shows consistency.
2. Prospective member talks to the elders about becoming a member and fills out a membership application.
3. Church posts an announcement in the Lord's Day bulletin that the prospective member has asked to apply for membership, members are asked to privately relate any concerns about the prospective member to the Elders.
4. Elders interview prospective member the following week.
5. The week after that, the Elders present the prospective member to the congregation who then votes by a show of hands.

 

[Romans922]

As a Presbyterian where the elders approve membership...

 

[rbcbob]

In our church the applicant will provide a testimony of both their understanding and experience of the gospel. This will be made available to the membership for perusal after which, if no concerns are brought forward, the elders will admit the applicant into membership. We have no voting by the congregation relative to new members.

 

[Jack K]

The Baptist church I attend took this out of the hands of the congregation a few years ago and assigned the responsibility to the elders. Before then, when the congregation had control, membership was seen mostly as something that gave one the right to vote on church matters. Now, with the elders in control, it is (supposedly) valued more for the shepherding, oversight and submission that comes with it. At least, that's where leadership hopes things are going.

 

[nicnap]

As a Presbyterian where the elders approve membership...

 

[KMK]

In our church the applicant will provide a testimony of both their understanding and experience of the gospel. This will be made available to the membership for perusal after which, if no concerns are brought forward, the elders will admit the applicant into membership. We have no voting by the congregation relative to new members.

 

[JP Wallace]

Quote Originally Posted by rbcbob View Post
In our church the applicant will provide a testimony of both their understanding and experience of the gospel. This will be made available to the membership for perusal after which, if no concerns are brought forward, the elders will admit the applicant into membership. We have no voting by the congregation relative to new members.

 

[PatrickTMcWilliams]

Thanks, gents! Our church currently does not use a congregational vote for new members. However, we are in a period of change, and we are revamping our constitution & bylaws. One of our members is persuaded that church members are covenanting with each other (for support, accountability, etc.), and thus the decision to admit new members should not be left to the elders, but rather be subject to congregational vote. Personally, I favor leaving it in the hands of the elders.

 

[SeanPatrickCornell]

To be quite honest, it seems to me that the congregational vote was just a formality.

I don't think my Elders would have submitted me for membership if the members weren't going to be happy with me, and likewise, the members voted me in because they trust the Elders and their examination of my personal testimony.

 

[Jake]

The Baptist church I grew up in (SBC) had a requirement to vote on new members, but I never knew it until later in life. The pastor would phrase it something like "Let us all raise our hands and rejoice with our new member as we saw 'Hallelujah.'" I never understood why that involved raising a hand until I found later it was a cloaked vote of sorts.

 

[MarieP]

In our church the applicant will provide a testimony of both their understanding and experience of the gospel. This will be made available to the membership for perusal after which, if no concerns are brought forward, the elders will admit the applicant into membership. We have no voting by the congregation relative to new members.

At my previous church, the congregation voted on members. My parents had visited when I joined, and they actually told me later, after I left that church, that they'd been taken aback by the voting procedure, and especially it being done in the Sunday morning public gathering. Actually, they had a great point- the church isn't a democracy, nor is it a club.

I actually mentioned this to the pastor, still very much a useful brother in the Lord, and he said that they've been thinking about having the voting during a members' meeting. I don't know what they've since decided.